Web accessibility

We are required by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to provide accessible web content. 

We need to meet The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Version 2.1, Level AA

To follow the law, all our web content must meet the rules of WCAG 2.1, Level AA.  Some examples of the rules in WCAG 2.1, Level AA include:

• Giving text alternatives for visuals.
• Including captions on live and recorded content. 
• Using high-contrast color combinations.
• Using descriptive hyperlink text.

For a full list of requirements, see the WCAG Quick Reference Guide. There are very few exceptions to this rule. For more context and background on our requirements as a state agency, check out the ADA's Fact Sheet on the Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Apps Provided by State and Local Governments.

Your role in accessibility

As a government agency, we serve all citizens in our state. Inclusion is one of our agency Strategic Plan Goals and includes both internal and external customers. One in four adults in Washington have a disability, and many more have some ties to someone living with one. Whether it's permanent, such as color blindness, or temporary, such as a broken arm in a sling, it's important that our website is easy to adjust for those who need to customize their experience.

Examples of accessibility difficulties web users may come across

The Web Accessibility Initiative put together Stories of Web Users and Web Accessibility Perspectives videos showcasing some of the difficulties web users may come across. Anyone should be able to access an item on our site, regardless of the main audience of the content.

Creating accessible web content 

The Web Team maintains a list of accessibility tools and guidance. If you are interested in getting access to these tools, reach out to webhelp@wsdot.wa.gov. 

Graphics

We work hard to create informative and interesting content to share with the public. However, a reliance on static images or content not customizable can take away from a visitor's experience. It's important to ensure that content like presentations, posters and graphics are not just placed onto our website without planning on making this accessible. Visuals should always have a purpose to add to the story on the page and never used to "break up text."

Only high quality images or graphics should be put onto our Flickr site. If a presentation needs to be on the site, do not save it as a PDF and upload it to the site. Instead, use the already great headings and info to tell the story on a webpage.

Accessible documents

The easiest way to make information accessible is to keep it simple. Web pages are easier for tools that change color contrast, size or read material aloud than if the information is stuck in graphic or PDF form.

If you are asked to provide information in a more accessible format, the following tools and instructions are available to help you. You may also contact our Web Help Team for a more comprehensive list of WSDOT-specific accessibility guides and tools.

• Microsoft's step-by-step instructions and videos on how to make your Word documents accessible to people with disabilities.
• Microsoft's step-by-step instructions and videos on how to make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities.
• ​​Adobe's step-by-step guidance on how to make and check that a PDF is accessible.
• Creating accessible pdf's from Section508.gov